Followers

Monday 1 September 2008

Kefalonia Part 5.......

Just a short bus ride away from Melissini Lake is The Drogorati Cave in the area of Haliotata.




Situated 120m above sea level, the cave descends to a depth of 95 metres, reached be approximately 170 steps - yes I counted them but was so out of breath on the way up that I may have miscounted! The temperature is a steady 18 degrees Celsius, it is regarded as one of the finest in Greece, the only one with such a large chamber 65m x 45m and about 20m in height and has served as the venue for concerts because the superb acoustics . The cave is a rare geological phenomenon with fantastic examples of huge stalactites and stalgmites, which scientists say grow 1cm every 100 years, giving you some idea of just how old the cave is.




You are allowed to take photos in the cave but without the use of flash, so we had to use the night setting and consequently the photos are a bit shaky.




.


You can see from these two photos

the size of the stalacmites and

stalagtites compared to

MWM and I

standing next to them.














You cannot imagine the size and magnificence of Drogorati Cave just by seeing photographs of it, it is truly awe inspiring and obviously a 'must see' if you visit Kefalonia.


I do hope you've enjoyed hearing/seeing where we spent our holiday.



Just one more thing....


When coming into land at Manchester Airport we had almost touched down when the pilot took off again! You can imagine the look on everyone's faces. Once he'd levelled out he explained that Air Traffic Control had given permission for him to land at the same time another plane was taking off, on the same runway, so he'd had to climb again. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in ATC especially when, just five days later, two planes 'bumped' into each other as they were taxiing on the same runway! Maybe we should fly from somewhere else next year, what do you say?


Now then, where to next year? That's the burning question!

38 comments:

Jo Beaufoix said...

Wow, those stalagmnites are just stunning. And blimey, it's lucky your pilot had his wits about him. Shiver.

Elaine Denning said...

That cave looks incredible! It's a shame you couldn't put the flash on though. Why is that? Just in case you tried to sell the photos?

Hav you ever gone on a safari? I'd love to do that.

Akelamalu said...

The pilot seemed as cool as a cucumber Jo, which is more than can be said of the passengers!

Apparently using the flash is detrimental to the formations Miss U but they sell a catalogue with photographs in there obviously taken with a flash! They were quite strict though in telling people off who used flashes. Never been on a safari but would love to do it.

Anonymous said...

As for next year, have you ever been to the CĂ©vennes region in France? It's stunning - they also have some caves you can visit, salt flats, fields full of sunflowers, a bamboo park and lots of beautiful little villages.

buffalodick said...

As I've mentioned before, I love caves! These are great pictures... I have to say though, my most amazing underground sight was man made. I toured a defunct iron mine once, and they showed us a chamber that looked like 100 yards long- and it was actually over a mile in length!

Anonymous said...

I love to go on cave tours. You got some pretty good photos as well.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

thank you so much for showing us this place, i would have never known about it otherwise and it is wonderful!

and about that plane? you know how they say the seat cushion is your flotation device? well i'm gonna' need another one cause i would have just used that one for a toilet! yikes!!!

smiles, bee
xxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Those caves give me shivers of awe just thinking about them. I keep writing scenes with caves in them - I'd love to see these Kefalonian ones.

Hey - you should come to Nova Scotia! But in the fall, when the trees have turned brilliant red, orange and gold. There's a Celtic Colours arts festival in Cape Breton in October - my mom and I are still trying to go to that, and we live here.

Anonymous said...

Hey Akela,

Just thought I'd drop in and say hi. It's been forever! Take care, and I've updated info on baby Brooklyn Elizabeth!

aims said...

I've followed the beautiful words you left on my blog - like a butterfly to a flower - and look what I have found!

First of all - thank you for those words. They touched my heart.

And wandering around here I see that the words do come from a beautiful soul.

The Man and I love to explore caves as well. Our last trip we managed to get into 2 tours and we loved it! Sore knee and all on all those steps they make you climb. Yikes!

Seeing as you love your Hawai - do you also love Iz's music? Israel Kamikawazole - I think that's how you spell it. We have discovered him this past year and have fallen in love with his voice and I cried over his one video. Another gentle soul gone. But - his music lives on.

Well girl - a lovely visit and I'm adding you to my sidebar. Thanks again.

Akelamalu said...

Cevennes sounds wonderful WLLDF I will certainly put it on my 'to visit' list.:)

That sounds really interesting Buff, did you take any photos?

I wish we'd been able to use the flash CWM, the photos would have been so much better.

Without giving you too much information Bee going of the aromas many people on that plane felt the same way as you!

You paint such a beautiful picture of Nova Scotia Julia I would love to visit there some day. Never say never!

I'm on my way to read more about your little angel Josh :)

Welcome Aims I'm so happy to see you here. :) I've never heard of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole until now but, my dear, I have just listened to some of his songs and have fallen in love with his voice. My next playlist will be a tribute to him!

MarmiteToasty said...

I to LOVE caves...... have only been to the caves at Cheddar Gorge.... years ago, here in England..... and the famous caves in Nerja in Spain..... went there about 3-4 times thats how much in wonderment I was....

LOVE you photos.... fanks for sharing your holiday adventures, it makes me feel like I had a holiday LMFAO

x

Queenie said...

The East coast is wonderful, you know that don't you????? Great pics, it looks really interesting.

Mimi Lenox said...

Now that was seriously scary...not the cave, the plane! I would have been beside myself!

Flowerpot said...

hard to live up to aholiday like that Ak - but I'm sure you will!

Shrinky said...

You did really well with the photo's, and they do come out so much more atmospheric without the flash, don't they?

Manchester airport (ugh) what a s...t hole! We had to wait there four hours for our connecting flight last week. Our return journey from Rhodes began at 1am, we arrived home around lunch time.. I sure can't wait til they invent teleporting.

Marshall Family said...

what an amazing cave! i hope you had a lovely time, it sure looks as tho you did x

G-Man said...

Come to Michigan!!!
...But only in the Summer!
Paradise....G

Anndi said...

My Chicklet loves exploring caverns. We visited some last summer in New York State. She would surely love visiting Kefalonia.

CG said...

Wow, how amazing. You certainly make me want to go there myself. The plane thing is SCARY!!!!!

Akelamalu said...

I wish I could have taken you with me Marmie, you deserve a break hon. xx

The East Coast is great Queenie but you can't guarantee the sun :(

Yes Mimi the thing with the plane was a tad scary, thankfully it wasn't anything more serious.

We certainly intend trying to beat it Flowerpot! :)

Teleporting would be so much quicker and easier wouldn't it Shrinky? We were lucky we didn't have any delays.

We had a brilliant time thanks Emmie :)

Is your summer our winter g-man? We might just consider it.;)

Your chicklet would have loved those caves Anndi withouth doubt. I hope you get to go there some day. :)

You should consider going CG it's a beautiful island and yes the plane thing was scary!!

Linda said...

The pictures here remind me somewhat of Carlsbad Caverns which is located in New Mexico and a place my parents took us to years and years ago. I was pretty young at the time but I still remember being fascinated by the stalactites and stalagmites. It's a whole different world down below the surface, isn't it?

Wherever you go next year I'm sure there will be some great pictures to go along with your trip!

Julia Phillips Smith said...

I love memes! I'll be there.

Akelamalu said...

It's always fascinating what goes on beneath our feet isn't it Linda, we don't know the half of it!

Oh good girl Julia x

Barb said...

You have me wanting to travel again!!!

(I love the music playing.)

Anonymous said...

Whenerv I go away even briefly, I always seem to have 20 posts to read back through. You are one prolific blogger!

That's quite a set of steps down into those caves. I love caves - very mysterious.

Akelamalu said...

Go on, Skittles go travelling! So happy you like the music.

I did blog every day last week CG for Doodle Week. The steps down to the cave were easy, it was coming back up that was the killer!

Unknown said...

How beautiful...I think I'd have been a bit scared (claustrophobic is too strong a word) to go in there...but it looks just beautiful!

Deb said...

I have truly enjoyed the virtual vacation that you took us on. I love going through caves as long as I don't think about earthquakes and rock slides. We had the same experience on a plane once - and I swore I would never fly again. Of course, I have because I want to get from point A to point B quickly. But I am not a relaxed passenger. I suggest you come to New England for your next vacation. It's all good! ;)

Anonymous said...

WOW, the cave looks incredible!!! I love caves:) The stalagmnites are enormous!

Ron said...

Since I have a Dracula fetish...I would have LOVED being down there in those caves!!

WOW, WEE! Simply AWESOME!

What a wonderful and magical journey you and MWM had on this trip, Akelamalu!

Thanks so much for sharing it with us too....gosh, hate to see it end!

And as I was reading the last of this post...I was suddenly reminded WHY I'm not fond of flying!!! Holy Cow...what a scare!

Thanks again, dear lady. Enjoyed this!

Akelamalu said...

It was too huge to make you claustrophobic Kim, really.

You know Deb, although the island is famed for its earthquakes it never entered my head, until you mentioned it! :0

Oh Ron, you and your fetishes! You would have loved the caves truly. x

nitebyrd said...

That's so cool! Great pictures, even w/o a flash.

OMG! That is too scary about the planes. Glad all was well.

Akelamalu said...

Thanks Nitebyrd I'm happy you enjoyed the photos. Yep the plane thing was SCARY!

storyteller said...

Wonderful follow up of your cave visit! Wow … the airport thing reminds me of an experience I once had upon ‘takeoff’ when the pilot slammed on the brakes just as the wheels were about to leave the ground … scaring the you know what out of all of us!!! Sitting in that plane on the tarmac for the next few hours while they found & fixed the problem wasn’t much fun either … and we all held our breath when we finally DID take off.
Hugs and blessings,

Akelamalu said...

Crikey Storyteller your experience on the plane sounds worse than ours!

Erika Jean said...

cool cave!! Me and my sister visited one recently, it was a "dead" cave so we could take pics - with the flash!

...I'm running a contest! come check it out!!

Akelamalu said...

Great Erika, I'll pop over shortly.